What's the book, Blu? (Aren't we already talking about this on another thread?) I'd be interested in reading (or hearing of) the argument that Shiloh was a draw -- especially given the reality that Beau's people left the field (or was chased off it, depending on one's perception).

ole wrote: What's the book, Blu? (Aren't we already talking about this on another thread?) I'd be interested in reading (or hearing of) the argument that Shiloh was a draw -- especially given the reality that Beau's people left the field (or was chased off it, depending on one's perception).

ole

This is the only thread I have talked about this on. The book is-The Warrior Generals-Combat Leadership in the Civil War by Thomas B. Buell

Shoot! Don't have that one. Will take your word for it and acknowledge that the theory does have its adherents. Don't have one that argues for a flat earth either, so I guess I don't have much backup to stand on.

I can't see Shiloh as a CS victory or even as a draw. Day 1 succesful assault that petered out due to poor staff work, & worse Command and Control. Day 2... US counterattack that drove the CS from all of their day 1 gains and forced them to withdraw all the way to their start line and further. W/ the exception of Chickamauga, which can be argued as a counterattack, the CS would never again really hold the initiative west of the Appalachia.

Even w/ Hood TN campaign there was never again a Major CS strike into US territory w/ the realistic goal of retaking trerritory lost. Strategicly the CS in the West was moving backward, giving up territory; while there were localized successes in retaking territory it was never for the long term.

Who really won the battle of Shiloh? I am reading a book now that seems to think it was a draw based on the fact both armies ended up the same as they started with the exception of those killed.

Finally went back to Old Blue's first post. I can only figure that some books covering old territory need a fresh argument to become interesting. I'd guess claiming that Shiloh was a draw would interest a publisher. Seems to me to be a claim too far, but I don't have the book, am not likely to get the book, so it's moot -- except that I can see no draw whatsoever in that particular fracas. The Confederates almost pulled off a good chance to keep Grant in the hinterlands. It didn't work. They lost.

I tend to agree with most of the above posts - The confederate objective was to crush the Federals and drive them into the river. That did not happen and ultimately the attackers were driven back the next day...Sounds like a defeat to me. I guess calling it a draw builds up suspense for the next book to see who really won the war...

"On paper, Shiloh was a draw; actually it was one of the decisive battles of the war. It was the battle the Confederacy simply had to win. For it had been a blow struck to restore a disastrously lost balance, a desperate attempt to re-establish the Confederate frontier in the Kentucky-Ohio Valley. It had failed, and the fact that it had come close to being a dazzling victory did not offset the failure..."

They left voluntarily because they had failed to drive the US forces into the river and if they had stayed they would have been destroyed.

The CS quit the field because of enemy action not because it felt like a fun thing to do. Both sides were badly blooded, with the side better able to recover the more dangerous. The CS forces didn't go back over to the offensive; they retreated and the US pursued, if at a glacial pace.

The Confederates were counterattacked off the battlefield and fled back to Corinth. I don't see what is so controversial about my statement. Leaving a battlefield voluntarily would be Bragg at Stones River or Lee at Gettysburg but that is not the case with Shiloh.

The Iron Duke wrote: The Confederates were counterattacked off the battlefield and fled back to Corinth. I don't see what is so controversial about my statement. Leaving a battlefield voluntarily would be Bragg at Stones River or Lee at Gettysburg but that is not the case with Shiloh.

I beg your pardon. The counter attack put everyone at the same place on the battlefield as when they started. When the fighting was over, then the Confederate army withdrew to Corinth. The point is, both armies were still intact.

I am afraid I have to coome in here on the side of those who see it as a defeat. beauregard decides he has to withdraw to Corinth and does. There was no face off for a day or so, a-la Sharpsburg before slipping away in the night. There was a withdrawal from the field, with Forrest protecting the rear. This was a defeat. It pains me to say it, but like I said, I keep reading looking for the outcome to be different this time...it never is!